


Wandering the Dream

by yarnandtea



Category: Dragon Age
Genre: Dragon Age: Origins - Freeform, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-27
Updated: 2013-03-27
Packaged: 2017-12-06 15:20:17
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/737154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yarnandtea/pseuds/yarnandtea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When the demon was vanquished by the Warden, Niall expected that he would simply cease to be. Imagine his surprise when he found himself left to wander the Fade, instead.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wandering the Dream

**Author's Note:**

  * For [spiritofemby](https://archiveofourown.org/users/spiritofemby/gifts).



> A very very happy birthday to my dear Kait! This is her Warden Rhian Amell. 
> 
> I hope you like it, my friend!

He hadn't thought he'd see her again, after she left the tower to join the Wardens. Especially not once he'd been trapped in the demon's nightmare. Yet somehow, against all odds, she had come to him there, and she had managed to finish the work that he could not. His Rhian no longer, he supposed. For she had left the Fade and returned to the waking world, her parting words a sad goodbye and reassurance that his sacrifice had not been in vain. He had given his life trying to protect the others like them, and she had picked up where he had fallen. Had his body not already been long since wasted away, he had no doubt she would have saved him, too. Instead she had pressed her lips to his, feeling real enough for the moment, and then she had gone.

Once the sloth demon had been vanquished and the energy of his body used up, with Rhian and her companions awake, there was nothing left to fuel the nightmare. Niall had expected he would disappear when it did, that he would dissolve into nothing and simply cease to be any longer. Yet that had not happened. His surroundings had simply...shifted. The nightmare had dissolved, yes, and in the process, Niall had been deposited in the Fade proper. No one could possibly have been more surprised at his continued existence than Niall himself. After the initial rush of pure _relief_ , he had to admit that he found it incredibly dull. He did not tire, he did not thirst or hunger. He just was. Eventually, he started walking, wandering the Fade in an endless journey with no true destination.

Until he encountered the dreamers.

They were not mages in the waking world, that much was certain at a glance. They looked like children, although that could just be how they had been dreaming of themselves when they had the misfortune to cross the demon's path. It was a rage demon, looming over them menacingly as they huddled together against a boulder. Niall frowned as he watched, wondering what the demon's game was. It lunged forward, suddenly, making to grab one of the children. They both screamed and scuttled backward, barely avoiding its claws.

"Hey!" Niall called out, angry now.

Without thinking, he called forth a blast of ice, freezing the demon in its tracks. He pulled a chunk of rock from the ground and sent it hurling at the frozen figure, shattering the demon into pieces. Niall blinked, surprised at himself. He had been trying for what felt like ages to summon magic here, and it had never worked. Why had he been able to call it now?

_Perhaps because I was acting on instinct, rather than over thinking it?_

He turned to face the children, both of them staring up at him in wide-eyed surprise. Seeing their terror, he opened his mouth to say something reassuring, but then they both vanished, winking out of the Fade to, presumably, wake up in their beds once more. Niall was alone again, but for the first time since Rhian had left the Fade, he did not feel utterly lost. Most dreamers barely touched the Fade, he knew, but some occasionally ended up here. They were easy prey for demons. But perhaps, if there was someone here to look out for them...

Filled with a sense of purpose, Niall moved on, not wanting any more demons to arrive, attracted by the magic he had cast. As he moved, he replayed the incident in his mind, trying to capture the feelings that had let him touch his magic again. Time passed, and though it seemed to go slowly to Niall, there was no way to tell how long it really was here in the Fade. But through a great deal of trial and error, Niall eventually managed to master his skills at magic once more, even willing a staff to manifest for his use. He sought out spirits, seeking to learn from those that were willing to teach him. Many, upon hearing his story, agreed to share their knowledge of the Fade. Bit by bit, he learned how to manipulate his surroundings, how to use them to his advantage in conjunction with his magic. Wisps began to seek him out as he traveled the Fade, humming their quiet songs to him and keeping him company.

Demons sought him out as well, after he had killed enough of them in defense of dreamers. Those foolish enough to do so quickly met their end, and as more time passed, the number who attacked him on purpose dwindled. Though it was tempting to go on a crusade to eradicate all of the demons from the Fade, Niall knew it would be a fool's errand. This was their home as well as his, so he made peace with himself that he would let them be unless they were trying to harm others. It was an oddly satisfying sort of life for Niall, though he supposed "life" wasn't truly the right word for his existence any longer.

So it went, until at some point Niall wandered into a piece of the Fade that looked astonishingly  familiar. It looked, in fact, just like the library in the tower. More specifically, it looked like the corner of the library in front of the fireplace where Niall had passed many a pleasant evening with...yes. There, in one of the worn but comfortable easy chairs, sat Rhian. She was curled up with a book in her lap, and her shoes on the floor in front of the chair. Niall stopped with a small sigh, drinking in the sight of his love.

"Niall!" Rhian must have heard his sigh. She looked up and grinned at him in delight. "There you are! Come, sit with me!" She shifted, patting the seat beside her. The chair was large enough to hold two, if only just.

Niall just shook his head briefly, trying to will away the vision. Was this some desire demon, trying a new angle of attack? He thought they would have given up on this by now. But Rhian continued to look at him, an expectant expression on her face. She flickered, just the teeniest bit, and Niall gasped. That wasn't the flicker of a desire demon trying to settle into its chosen form, but rather the flicker of a mortal dreamer, still settling into a full sleep.

"Rhian!" He stepped forward, hand outstretched. Could it really be her?

"Of course, silly. Who else would I be?"

Niall blinked, realizing he must have spoken that last bit aloud. Still, somewhere deep inside of him, he _knew_ , without a doubt, that this _was_ Rhian. His heart leapt with joy and he strode forward, dropping into the chair and pulling her into his lap in a fierce hug. She let out a surprised yelp but squirmed around until she was sitting comfortably and returned the embrace, dropping her head on his shoulder with a contented sigh.

"I have missed you so much," Niall whispered, running his fingers through her hair.

 "You say that as if you haven't seen me in ages," she giggled.

He did not ask how long it had been for her. It did not matter. For him, it had been too long, and that was all that he cared to know. He reached down, tilting her chin up, and turned his head to kiss her. For the first time since his physical body had died, Niall felt hunger, though it was not for food. Rhian returned the kiss eagerly, hands moving to Niall's shoulders.

Knowing that she could wake up at any second, Niall did not want to waste any time. His fingers moved to the ties of her robes and he had untied half of them before he stopped, chucking at himself. Rhian tilted her head at the sound, giving him a curious look. He just smiled and closed his eyes, willing their clothing away. When he opened them again, the pair of them were naked. Rhian let out a soft "oh!" of surprise and then met his eyes, a mischievous grin spreading across her face.

"Isn't that a useful trick?" Rhian said with a laugh.

She leaned in for a quick kiss and before Niall could respond, she had slipped off the chair, settling down on her knees in front of it. She placed her hands on his thighs and leaned forward, licking a wide stripe up his cock. Niall sucked in a breath and then Rhian grinned again before closing her mouth around him, sucking at the head and then slowly taking the length of him in. Niall stared down at her, idly tracing a finger along her cheek as she sucked and licked and pulled back, only to slide back down. His body shuddered at the sensations. A small part of his mind tried to point out that this wasn't real, but he banished it. Considering what he had become, it was real enough.

"Rhian, love," he called softly, and she paused, looking up at him.

He grinned down at her and concentrated, causing another shift. They were lying on the floor in front of the fire, a soft fur rug underneath them. Rhian looked surprised for a moment and then laughed with a shake of her head. She stretched out on her back and Niall moved on top of her, settling himself between her legs. His arms braced on either side of her, he leaned down to kiss her deeply, passionately, trying to convey everything he felt for her. Their tongues danced together and she reached up, tugging on his shoulders.

Niall reached down with one hand to position himself and then he pushed inside of her with one long, slow, thrust. Rhian's head fell back to the rug and she uttered a small cry of delight. They moved together, slowly at first, just enjoying the feel of their bodies connected together. Niall willed his orgasm to hold off, wanting to make this last. But eventually it was all too much, and he and Rhian both began to move at a frenzied pace. Niall came with a few final stuttering thrusts and then he slipped out of Rhiann, curling up on his side, pulling her to him.

They lay there for some time, enjoying the drowsy afterglow. After a while, Niall noticed Rhian was starting to flicker again. She must be waking up. He pulled her close, holding her tightly and burying his face in her hair. A soft chuckle met this action.

"I've missed you too, my friend," she whispered, sliding an arm around his waist. "Perhaps I'll dream of you again tomorrow."

"If I've anything to say about it," Niall swore, his eyes sliding shut, "you will."

"Good."

She pressed a kiss to his lips. When he opened his eyes, she was gone.


End file.
